Work support table



y 21,1963 E. T. STRICKLAND ETAL 3,090,173

WORK SUPPORT TABLE Original Filed Aug. 20, 1958 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 BY 8, I W a; 1%

y 1963 E. T. STRICKLAND ETA]. 3,090,173

WORK SUPPORT TABLE 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed Aug. 20, 1958 INVENTORS. EDWARD ZJW/(H/M/D Z I 444, 1 Arroe/vm y 21, 1953 E. T. STRICKLAND ETAL 3,090,173

WORK SUPPORT TABLE 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Original Filed Aug. 20, 1958 INVENTORS'. 20 77 SIG/(6644MB Ham-e c'. AMOS y 1963 E. T. STRICKLAND ETAL 3,090,173

WORK SUPPORT TABLE Original Filed Aug. 20, 1958 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 /4/ @QVM WM//MZ4 INVENTORS.

A TIDE/V5145 3,%9ti,173 WGRK SUPPORT TABLE Edward T. Strickland and Homer C. Amos, Palm Springs,

Calif., assignors, by rnesne assignments, to Philbrick- Strickland laminates, inc, a corporation of Washington Original application Aug. 2%, 1958, Ser. No. 756,189, now Patent No. 2,995,874, dated Aug. 15, 1961. Divided and this application Mar. 7, 1966, Ser. N0. 13,371 3 Claims. (Cl. 51-237) This invention relates to a work supporting table and more particularly to a rotatable work supporting table having work locating structure.

An object of this invention is to provide a new and improved mounting table whereby a Work piece and its support may be accurately located with relation to the mounting table.

Another object of this invention is to provide a drive mechanism for a floating turntable which avoids side loads on the turntable to control the accuracy of a machine processing a work piece and its support mounted on said turn table, such as a grinding and gauging machine.

Further objects and advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of the grinding and gauging machine with a part of an article broken away to show the supporting mandrel;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the machine looking toward the right in FIG. 1;

PEG. 3 is a plan section taken generally along the line 3-3 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary, diagrammatic view of the drive mechanism for the grinder assembly and gauge assembly;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary elevational view on an enlarged scale with parts broken away of the structure for mounting a template follower;

FIG. 6 is a vertical section taken generally along the line 6--6 in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view on an enlarged scale showing the mounting of a template to its support;

FIG. 8 is a horizontal sectional view taken along the line 8-8 in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a vertical section of the turntable and its mounting and showing a mandrel supported thereon, and taken generally along the line 9-9 in FIG. -10;

FIG. 10 is a plan view of the turntable with the mandrel removed therefrom;

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary plan View on an enlarged scale of a part of the mandrel mounting mechanism carried by the turntable;

FIG. 12 is a vertical section taken line 1212 in FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a vertical section taken generally along the line 1313 in FIG. 11, with the mandrel shown in association therewith;

FIG. '14 is an exploded view of the mandrel mechanism shown in FIG. 11; and

FIG. 15 is a fragmentary perspective view looking upwardly toward the underside of the mandrel to show a part of the locating mechanism carried thereby.

This application is a division of my application, Serial No. 756,189, filed August 20, 1958, now Patent No. 2,995,874, granted August 15, 1961.

While this invention is susceptible of embodiments in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail an embodiment of the invention with the understanding that the present disclogenerally along the mounting sure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiment illustrated. The scope of the invention will be pointed out in the appended claims.

As shown in the drawings, the machine comprises a framework provided with a pair of inclined legs 1 and 2 extending upwardly from a base or supporting surface 2a. The legs 1 and 2 are braced by a third angled rear leg 3 extending upwardly from the base and connected to the legs 1 and 2 near their top. Positioned between the legs 1 and 2 adjacent their lower end is a rotary tumtable 4 on which a mandrel 5 is carried. The mandrel 5 is adapted to carry a hollow glass fiber form such as a radome, and the machine disclosed herein is designed to grind the cured form to provide a wall thickness for the radome in which the variation from top to bottom must be within .001".

The legs 1 and 2 have associated therewith a grinding assembly, indicated generally at 10, and a gauging assembly, indicated generally at 11, respectively. Each of these assemblies are generally the same in construction, and the assembly 10 will be described hereinafter in detail. Each of the legs 1 and 2 is provided with guide ways 11 and 12 in which a slide or carriage 13 forming part of the assembly 10 is slidably mounted for movement lengthwise of the leg 1. A mounting arm 15 carries a grinding wheel .16 and a template follower 17 and is mounted for movement along a line generally normal to the surface of the part being ground by a pantograph arrangement in which parallel pantograph arms 18 and 19 are pivoted by precision bearings 20 and 21 to the slide 13. The lower ends of the pantograph arms 18 and 19 are pivotally connected to the mounting arm 15 by a pair of precision bearings 23 and 24. The en tire assembly is counterweighted by a counterweight 22 and the parts are arranged to have the follower 17 have pressure engagement with its template. The grinding wheel 16 is driven by a motor 25 carried on the mounting arm 15.

Parts of the gauging assembly 11 corresponding to the grinding assembly 10 have been given a similar reference number with a prime afixed thereto. The mounting arm 15' of the gauge assembly 11 carries a gauge 26 having a movable stem 27 engageable with the surface of the article being ground with the movable stem operable to shift a pointer relative to the gauge dial to indicate any deviation from a zero setting of the gauge. The deviation indicates any necessary adjustment of the grinding wheel 16.

Extending along the legs 1 and 2 are a pair of templates !30 and 31 respectively, associated one with each of the legs. The template 30 has a pnofile edge with which profile follower 17 of the grinder assembly 10 is engageable, and the template 31 has a similar edge for engagement by the profile follower 17 of the gauge assembly 11. The profile edges of the two templates are identical to space the grinding wheel and gauge at the same distance from the axis of rotation of the turntable 4 at any common elevation of these members relative to the turntable.

In order to compensate for any deflections of the relatively thin templates, each of the templates is mounted as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, in which the mounting of the template 31 is shown. The leg 2 has a block 32 extending along the length thereof for association with a plurality of blocks 33 fixed to the template in spaced apart relation by bolts 34. Each of the template blocks 33 may 'be moved toward and away from the leg block 32 by a pair of adjustable bolts 35 threaded in the leg block. A headed bolt 36 threaded in the leg block is mounted in a slot 37 in the template and may be tightened to hold 3 the template in fixed position after adjustment of its position by the bolts 35.

Each of the mounting arms 15 and 15 adiustably carries the associated profile follower in a manner to provide close tolerances and intimate fit between the parts. Each of the profile followers is mounted similarly and the mounting of profile follower 17 is shown in FIGS. and 6. The profile follower 17' is carried on a mounting bar 40 which is slidably mounted in an enclosure having four walls with the mounting arm 15' forming one wall. An opposite wall 41 is spaced from the mounting arm 15' and the third and fourth walls are in opposed relation and formed by members 42 and 43. The wall members 41 and 42 are bonded together by a thin layer of resin 44 such as an epoxy resin, as are the mounting arm 15' and the member 43 by a thin layer 45. A pair of thicker layers of resin, such as an epoxy resin, are provided as shown at 46 and 47 between arm 15' and member 4-2 and members 43 and 41, respectively, whereby the four sides of the mounting bar enclosure are bonded together. As the mounting bar 40 moves relative to the enclosure, a slight wearing of the parts will be compensated for by springs 48 and 49 surrounding bolts 50 and 51 secured in the mounting arm 15 which exert force on the enclosure member 41 to maintain a slight amount of pressure on the resin bonds 46 and 47. The resin has a slight tendency to creep, and as this creeping occurs, the relatively light springs 48 and 49 take up the slack created between the enclosure members. The resin functions to prevent relative separation between the parts.

Relative movement between the mounting arm 15' and the profile follower 17' is accomplished by an adjusting screw 55 connected between the parts and operable by a handle 56 and a Vernier adjustment 57 is provided for obtaining extremely accurate adjustment.

Means for moving the grinder assembly 1% and the gauge assembly 11 along the legs 1 and 2, respectively, includes a pair of lead screws 66 and 61, respectively, rotatably mounted on the legs and which are driven by a pair of pulleys 62 and 63 at the top of the machine. A first drive train for driving both lead screws simultaneously at the same rate includes a motor 64 connected to a gear reduction unit 65. The gear reduction unit 65 has an output shaft 66 carrying a pair of pulleys 67 and 68 which drive a pair of stub shafts 69 and 70 by means'of belts 71 and 72, respectively. Each of the stub shafts 69 and 76 carrying a component of a pair of magnetic clutches 73 and 74, and when these clutches are in engagement a pair of shafts 75 and 76 connected to the magnetic clutches are driven. The shafts 75 and 76 each have a pulley 77 and 78, respectively, connected by belts 79 and 80 to pulleys 81 and 82 on the output shafts of a pair of motors 83 and S i. With the motors 83 and 84 not operating, the drive continues to the lead screw pulleys 62 and 63 through belts 85 and 86, respectively, connected between the lead screw pulleys and a second pulley on each of the drive shafts of motors 83 and 84.

When it is desired to move either the grinder assembly or the gauge assembly 11 independent of the other, the common drive from motor 64 is discontinued by deenergizing this motor and deenergization of the magnetic clutches 73 and 74. The motor 83 may then be energized to move the lead screw 60 to move the grinder assembly 19 along the leg 1 and the motor 84 may be energized to rotate the lead screw 61 to move the gauging assembly 11 along its supporting leg.

As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the turntable 4 is rotatably mounted on a base member 90 suitably mounted on the supporting structure or base 2a of the machine for rotation through a fluid mounting. The base 90 has a central chamber 91 and an annular bearing face 92 adjacent its periphery with a depressed area 93 between the central chamber and the bearing face 92. The turn table has a generally fiat lower face with a central mounting section 94 fitted within the central chamber 91 of the base with a precision type ball bearing )5 rotatably. mounting the turntable. This bearing provides for lateral placement of the turntable 4 relative to the base 9%. A fluid inlet line 96 leads to the central chamber whereby fluid may pass through the bearing into the space between the turntable lower face and the depressed area of the base to form a fluid cylinder wherein a piston effect supports the substantial weight of the turntable and the mandrel supported thereon. The fluid then flows between the turntable lower face and the bearing face 92 to provide a thin film of fluid for maintaining the turntable in a fixed plane of rotation. The fluid then passes to collecting lines 97 which lead to a tank (not shown).

As a specific example, a controlled flow of kerosene at approximately one pint per hour at about 3 psi. is fed into the central area M.

With the turntable 4 delicately mounted on the base member 99, it is extremely desirable to avoid the application of side loads to the turntable. For this purpose a drive arrangement is provided wherein an endless belt 10%, as shown in FIG. 3, engages a peripheral groove 102 in the turntable 4 at diametrically opposite locations and provides two loops 103 and 1% in the belt, each of which loops has a driven pulley 1115 and 196 in driving relation with the belt. The pulley 195 is driven by a motor 107, while the pulley 106 is driven in the same direction as pulley 1'35 by a motor 1%. These motors are mounted on vibration free mounts to avoid the transmission of vibrations, and the pulleys 195 and 196 are of the split type so as to equalize the forces applied by the motors N7 and 198. With this structure a pure twist is applied to the turntable 4 and the side load created by one motor is balanced by the other motor.

The turntable 4 is provided with precision locating means for the article supporting mandrel in the form of three equally spaced-apart blocks 120, 121 and 122 located in a circular disposition adjacent the periphery of the turntable 4. Each block has a V-shaped groove extending radially toward the center of the circular disposition with the base of the groove sloping slightly downward toward the center of the turntable. These grooves are indicated at 123, 124 and 125. Each of the grooves 123, 124 and 125 has a pair of wear plates 126 and 127 fitted therein.

The underside 130 of a mandrel 5 has three similar members in the form of blocks, one of which is shown at 131, equally spaced apart about the periphery of the mandrel and located to overlie the blocks 120, 121 and 122 of the turntable 4. These mandrel blocks each have a downwardly facing V-shaped groove 132 with the grooves extending radially toward the center of the circular disposition of the mandrel blocks.

A plurality of balls 135, 136 and 137 are associated one with each of the pairs of turntable and mandrel blocks to lie therebetween and be fully seated in the block grooves to accurately locate the mandrel 130 on the turntable 4 and actually form a connection for causing the mandrel to rotate with the turntable. The coacting parts provide an exact location for mounting the mandrel on the axis of turntable rotation and compensate for slight contraction of the mandrel as the mandrel returns to room temperature after leaving an operation involving substantial heat.

In order to properly locate the mandrel, it is necessary that each of the balls 135, 136 and 13 7 assume its exact location between the turntable and mandrel blocks; this is facilitated by a spring trap associated with each of the turntable blocks 12%), 121 and 122. This trap includes a pair of auxiliary side blocks 140 and 141 secured to the upper side of each of the turntable blocks. The structure associated with each of the turntable blocks is identical, and that associated with a single block will hereinafter be described. The auxiliary side blocks 140 and 141 are secured to the turntable block at opposite sides of the groove 123. A pair of end blocks 142 and 143 are provided at the ends of the side blocks. A surrounding coil spring 144 surrounds the end blocks 142 and .143 and, as shown in FIG. 11, holds the parts in assembled relation with the ball 135 captured between the end blocks 142 and 143 and the side blocks 140 and 141. In order to obtain accurate positioning of the end blocks 142 and 143, each of the side blocks has an adjusting screw 145 and 146 threadably mounted therein which may extend from both ends thereof to determine the position of the end block 142 and 143. The continuous adjusting screws 145 and 146 provide a constant spacing or distance between the end blocks 142 and 143 and the adjustment of the screws merely functions to shift this space relative to the side blocks 140 and 141.

When the mandrel is initially set on the turntable, the balls 135, 136 and 137 may shift somewhat out of their desired position and not be fully seated. It is necessary to return the balls to their fully seated position in order to have the upper end of the mandrel at its desired location relative to the grinding and gauging mechanism. By jacking up the mandrel a ball positioned at the jacked up side is free to return to its desired position under the urging of the spring 144 and the accurate position of the ball is determined by abutment of the end blocks 142 and 143 with the adjusting screws 145 and 146 carried by the side blocks 140 and 1141.

We claim:

1. In a grinding machine, a structure for accurately positioning a workpiece mandrel on a turntable for ro tation therewith comprising, a rotatable turntable, a mandrel adapted to rest on said turntable, three blocks circumferentially equidistantly spaced apart adjacent the periphery of the turntable, each of said blocks having an upwardly open radially extending V-shaped groove sloping downwardly toward the center of the turntable, three blocks carried on the underside of the mandrel in a circular disposition and in positions to overlie the turntable blocks with each having a downwardly open V-shaped groove extending radially toward the center of said circular disposition, a plurality of rigid =balls associated one with each pair of support and mandrel blocks and confined therebetween in the opposed grooves to locate the mandrel relative to the turntable in a predetermined position by the balls being fully seated in their associated opposed grooves, and means for determining the fully seated position of the balls and assisting the balls to reach said positions including, a pair of stop members fixed to and upstanding from each turntable block at opposite sides of the V-shaped groove, a pair of opposed bars extending across opposite ends of the stop members to form with the stop members a four-sided enclosure for a ball with the distance between bars equal to the diameter of a ball, a spring surrounding said enclosure and in engagement with said bars to yieldably urge the bars toward each other and control the ball position, and adjustable stop elements on the stop members engageable by the bars for controlling the position of the bars relative to the stop members.

2. A structure tor accurately positioning a mandrel on a support member comprising, a mandrel, a support member for supporting said mandrel, three upwardly iopen radially extending V-shaped grooves, circumferential-1y and equidistantly spaced apart adjacent the periphery oi the support, three ball receiving openings on the underside of the mandrel in a circular disposition and in positions to overlie said grooves, a plurality of rigid balls associated one With each support gnoove and associated mandrel opening and confined therebetween to locate the mandrel relative to the support in a predetermined position by the balls being fully seated in their associated grooveand opening, and means for determining the fully seated position of the balls and assisting the balls to reach said positions including, a pair of stop members fixed to and upstanding from the suppont at opposite sides of each V-shaped gnoove, a pair of opposed blocks extending across opposite ends of the stop members to form with the stop members a four-sided enclosure for a ball with the distance between blocks equal to the diameter of a ball, and a spring surrounding said enclosure and in engagement with said blocks to yieldably urge the blocks toward each other to control the ball positio 3. A structure usable in accurately positioning a work piece mandrel on a support member, comprising a block having an upwardly open sloping V-shaped groove and located on the support member, a rigid ball associated with and seated on said groove, and means for locating the ball in a predetermined position relative to the groove and assisting said ball to reach the predetermined position and become 'fully seated in said groove including a pair of stop members fixed to and upstanding from said block at opposite sides of the groove, a pair of opposed end blocks extending across opposite ends of the stop members to form with the stop members a four sided enclosure for the ball with the distance between the end block substantially equal to the diameter of the ball, a spring surrounding said enclosure and in engagement with said end blocks to yieldably urge the end blocks toward each other and control the ball position, and adjustable stop elements on the stop members engageable by the end blocks for controlling the position of the end blocks relative to the stop members.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,155,680 Pfauter Apr. 25, 1939 2,394,376 Grylewicz eti Feb. 5, 1946 2,415,269 Yeomans et a1 Feb. 4, 1947 2,451,899 Yeomaus et al Oct. 19, 1948 2,828,589 Hercik Apr. 1, 1958 2,865,150 Fuglie Dec. 23, 1958 2,934,978 Estabmook May 3, 1960 

3. A STRUCTURE USABLE IN ACCURATELY POSITIONING A WORK PIECE MANDREL ON A SUPPORT MEMBER, COMPRISING A BLOCK HAVING AN UPWARDLY OPEN SLOPING V-SHAPED GROOVE AND LOCATED ON THE SUPPORT MEMBER, A RIGID BALL ASSOCIATED WITH AND SEATED ON SAID GROOVE, AND MEANS FOR LOCATING THE BALL IN A PREDETERMINED POSITION RELATIVE TO THE GROOVE AND ASSISTING SAID BALL TO REACH THE PREDETERMINED POSITION AND BECOME FULLY SEATED IN SAID GROOVE INCLUDING A PAIR OF STOP MEMBERS FIXED TO AND UPSTANDING FROM SAID BLOCK AT OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE GROOVE, A PAIR OF OPPOSED END BLOCKS EXTENDING ACROSS OPPOSITE ENDS OF THE STOP MEMBERS TO FORM WITH THE STOP MEMBERS A FOUR SIDED ENCLOSURE FOR THE BALL WITH THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE END BLOCK SUBSTANTIALLY EQUAL TO THE DIAMETER OF THE BALL, A SPRING SURROUNDING SAID ENCLOSURE AND IN ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID END BLOCKS TO YIELDABLY URGE THE END BLOCKS TOWARD EACH OTHER AND CONTROL THE BALL POSITION, AND ADJUSTABLE STOP ELEMENTS ON THE STOP MEMBERS ENGAGEABLE BY THE END BLOCKS FOR CONTROLLING THE POSITION OF THE END BLOCKS RELATIVE TO THE STOP MEMBERS. 